Amtrak tour desk at New York Penn Station, 1978.
Color film slide showing the Amtrak tour desk at New York Penn Station; image dates to October 1978.
- Film Slide Details
-
- Date Archived:
- April 26, 2016
- Geography:
- Northeast
- Decade:
- 1970s
- Data Format:
- Image
- Date Created:
- October 1978
- Download the full-sized version of this photo
According to the April 1, 1977 issue of Amtrak NEWS, this tour desk was originally designed and built for the 1976 American Society of Travel Agents' annual convention held in New Orleans, where it won first prize.
It was then redesigned and shipped to New York Penn Station "to promote and sell tour packages, a job regular ticket agents are not equipped to do." Vice President of Marketing Al Michaud cut a ribbon to officially open the desk on February 18, 1977.
Although shown at a quiet moment late in the evening, Amtrak NEWS noted that in its first nine days of operation, approximately 320 customers visited each day to speak with staff about tour packages including the Week of Wheels program in Florida, the U.S.A. Rail Pass and round trip special fares between New York and Montreal on the Adirondack.
From the Ann Owens Collection.
